Volt Lines, a Turkey-based transportation service has raised $1.28 million in a pre-Series A round led by Dubai Angel Investors (DAI) which invested $780,000 while the remainder came as with follow-on from Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), Hedef Filo and Wassim Matar.

Volt Lines is a subscription-based transportation service providing users a seat on mini-buses for their commute to and from work. Seats are booked through a mobile app. It began operating in Istanbul in April this year and now has more than 150 lines in the city with an annual recurring revenue of $1.1 million in under six months.

The investment will be used to double its engineering team and accelerate its growth in Istanbul before expanding to the wider Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.  

“By 2050, more than 70 per cent of the world’s population is expected to be living in cities. This means more urbanisation and more pressure on the infrastructure, especially that of transportation,” says Ali Halabi, founder and chief executive officer at Volt Lines. “Every ride that’s done on Volt Lines means less empty cars in traffic and thus reduced congestion and carbon footprint.”

The company sits on the intersection of the growing urbanisation, autonomous vehicles, electrification of trans port and the rise of artificial intelligence-powered transit technologies according to Halabi.  

“The future is increasingly modular, giving customers choice, affordability and relevance,” says Kushal Shah, co-founder of DAI. “It enhances mobility [and] Volt Lines is at the heart of this. I believe [it] will bring the ‘city as a service’ concept closer to our region.”